SEAG: Opposition concerns athletics chief
The country’s top athletes are neck-deep in training here and overseas but the leadership of the Philippine Track and Field Association (Patafa) admits it is wary of what the visitors are going to showcase during the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 Southeast Asian Games. “Aside from the records registered in the IAAF, we don’t know what they’re going to come up with (during the SEAG),” said Patafa chief Philip Ella Juico said in Thursday.
However, the Philippines might get a sneak-peek into the quality of the opposition when a test event is held Oct. 26-27 at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
“For sure, they’ll be attending because they want to test the track and the facilities,” said Juico, whose athletes have been given the chance to get a feel of the newly built track stadium the past few weeks.
As for the Filipino athletes, especially the Fil-foreign recruits, only some of them are coming over for the test event next month “because taking part will disrupt their own training there.”
Still, Juico said several have confirmed their attendance when the Phisgoc presides over the test event, including sprinter Eric Cray and the Richardson sisters, Kayla and Kyla.
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are the biggest threats to the Philippines’ quest to make heads turn on home soil.
Meanwhile, fast-rising pole vaulter EJ Obiena is the lone Filipino entry in the IAAF world championships that takes place this week in Doha, Qatar.
Obiena, 23, is now rated in the world’s top ten after recently topping a tournament in Italy where he has been training the last couple of years.
Obiena’s feat in the Italian meet earned him a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making him the first Filipino to gain an outright berth.